French aircraft carrier heads home

BBC News ^ | 02/17/2003

[dighton]

The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is returning to France next week, say French officials, apparently scotching suggestions that it might be heading for the Gulf.

The vessel set sail on 4 February from its Mediterranean home port of Toulon, amid speculation that its final destination might be the Gulf.

Officially the vessel was heading for exercises off Crete, but some military analysts believed that it would subsequently join the build-up of military forces in the Gulf.

However, a senior French naval spokesman said on Monday there was “no question” of the Charles de Gaulle going to the Gulf.

“As planned, we will leave Crete again on 21 February and we should arrive back in Toulon on 25 February,” said Lieutenant Commander Bertrand Bonneau of the Charles de Gaulle battle group.

“There is no question at all of us going to the Gulf,” he told the French news agency AFP.

France has been leading European resistance to an early conflict with Iraq, but has been expected to eventually back a war if it believes all diplomatic routes have been exhausted.

Its confirmation that the Charles de Gaulle was returning home appeared to suggest that even in the medium future, it saw no place for conflict.

“I assumed the Charles de Gaulle would steam on to the Gulf,” said Ewan Southby-Tailyour, editor of Jane’s Amphibious and Special Forces.

“I think the statement about it returning home might be just “today’s statement”.

“It is almost certainly directed at the Americans, to try to add credence to their political statement in the UN Security Council.

“They are trying to show the US they really don’t believe we should be going to war yet.”

The French Government had not confirmed speculation that the Crete exercises would lead on to a Gulf deployment, but the Defence Ministry had stressed that the Charles de Gaulle was set for any mission.

“When a ship sails, it goes battle-ready - in terms of its crew, its weaponry and its aircraft, in times of peace or crisis,” said spokesman Christophe Prazuck at the time the vessel set sail.

“A ship like the Charles de Gaulle is not half-operation, or giving an illusion of being operational. It is totally operational.”

The Charles de Gaulle’s three weeks of exercises have included some with a US aircraft carrier, the Harry S Truman, deployed in the Mediterranean ahead of a possible war.

The exercises have taken place between Sicily and Crete, with the Charles de Gaulle based at Souda Bay on Crete, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Athens.

Fighting power

If, as analysts suspect, the Charles de Gaulle eventually turns round once again and sails back towards the Gulf, it will take around two days’ extra sailing to get back to the eastern Mediterranean.

From there - or from closer to the Gulf - the French vessel could be used to deploy French aircraft to join any war on Iraq.

Around 40 aircraft are on board, including fighter jets and reconnaissance planes.

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle has been beset by technical problems over the years, but is a potent symbol of French military power.

It returned in July 2002 from a seven-month mission in the Indian Ocean as part of the war against terror.

Although France is still strongly backing extended weapons inspections, it sees war as a last resort, and is thought to fear being sidelined militarily if war does finally come.

[Diana Rose]

Rubber band must have broke

[ijcr]

Just enough time to get all the IFF codes for the junk they sold to Iraq.

[general_re]

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle has been beset by technical problems over the years...

[Itzlzha]

French aircraft carrier heads home

It seems the last gerbil they got from Richard Gere was incapable of running backwards on the big wheel...and no Frog worth his Brie would EVER go near a battle zone without the ability to run away!

[Oztrich Boy]

The above are 'full size carriers.' Actually that is a far better moniker than 'catapult carrier' because the main thing about them is they have full-size decks while VTOL carriers have short decks.

actually it isn't. The alternatives are

1. CATAR: catapult take-off, Arrested landing

2. STOVL: Short take off, Vertical landing

3. STOBAR: Short takeoff, but arrested landing

US carriers, Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo are CATAR
UK carriers, Princep de Asturias, Guseppii Garibaldi, Chakri, Viraat are STOVL
Kuznetsov is STOBAR

but it's not a function of deck size. The new British Future Aircraft Carrier will be the same size as the Kuznetsov, bigger than CdG, Sao Paulo, but will be STOVL.
Which is actually a better system than STOBAR, but in practice is restricted to a single aircraft type,(Harrier now, JSF in future), whereas STOBAR can operate any high performance jet a CATAR can, at slighly reduced take-off weight (maybe 80% of max Catapult weight)

Also the Russians are keeping the Kuznetsov (Midway, UK CVF sized), what they have sold to india is the older STOVL Gorshkov (Charles de Gaulle sized),
which will be converted to STOBAR.

Also a gleam in the Indain navy's eye: the STOBAR ADS

[ijcr]

Action at Oran (Operation 'Catapult') - Adm Somerville arrives with Force H off the French Algerian base of Mers-el-Kebir near Oran. French Adm Gensoul is offered a number of choices to ensure his fleet with its four capital ships stays out of Axis hands. All are turned down and, at around 18.00, Force H opens fire on the anchored ships. "BRETAGNE" blows up and the "Dunkerque" and "Provence", together with other ships, are badly damaged. Battlecruiser "Strasbourg" and some destroyers manage to break out in spite of attacks by aircraft from "Ark Royal", and reach Toulon in the south of France.

Three days later the damaged "Dunkerque" is torpedoed at her moorings by Ark Royal's Swordfish. The tragic and unhappy episode is over as far as Oran is concerned.

A more peaceful solution to the French naval presence is found at Alexandria. Adm Cunningham is able to reach agreement with Adm Godfrey on the demilitarisation of battleship "Lorraine", four cruisers and a number of smaller ships.

No action is taken against the French warships at Algiers and Toulon.Here the rest of ships were scuttled in November 1942

"For the Royal Navy an unhappy but in British eyes, necessary duty has been carried out against our former French allies. French anger and bitterness is understandably considerable."

[PhilDragoo]

As corruption vies with cowardice for the French national characteristic, Chirac puts Charles DeGaulle up for bid. . .

One million francs from the tall thin dark man in the turban. . .

[gortklattu]

Somebody who is handy with a photo editor should put some white flags all over that carrier....

[Ax]

The Jean Bart engaged USS Massachusetts at Casablanca just prior to Operation TORCH in November 1942. Massachusetts can be seen at Battleship Cove, just off of I-95 in Fall River, MA.

[harpseal]

Thank you for the refersher course.

[Porterville]

Run, run, there is going to be a war soon and we don't want you toads to get hurt.

[AlguyA]

"“A ship like the Charles de Gaulle is not half-operation, or giving an illusion of being operational. It is totally operational.”"

Which, for a French ship, means it is totally prepared to surrender. Exactly what it's doing. So, obviously, for the French, the de Gaulle, IS fully operational.

[reg45]

Didn't the CDG lose a screw while underway recently?

I don't know, but Jacque Chirac has a screw loose!

[dennisw]

So much for "La Force de Frappe"

[reg45]

.... homeless shelter in Gdansk.

Now that's funny!!! I love it!

[doug from upland]

[scott7278]

French aircraft carrier heads home

That's about all the French are good for.

[reg45]

The attack was at Oran (Algeria) on July 3rd. 1940. The British attacked the French fleet to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Germans.

[desertcry]

When compared to USS Reagan, the french aircraft carrier is a row boat. Frogs can't survive in the open ocean, a muddy pond is more to it's liking.

[antaresequity]

I think allied command ordered them out of the theatre...

You cant have non-combatent aircraft carriers in an active theatre of war...

War is coming...